Researchers have identified intrinsic cell properties that influence the fate of neural stem cells, affecting what type of brain cell they will form: neurons, astrocytes, or oligodendrocytes. This discovery could give scientists a new way to predict or control the fate of stem cells, improving their use in transplantation therapies.
Source: Science Daily

Embattled Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he will soon call a meeting to determine the leadership of the ruling Liberal party, after receiving a letter from the majority of party members requesting a change of leader on Friday.

One of the essential nutrients for vigorous crop production is nitrogen. Yet most routine tests done in commercial soil testing labs do not measure available nitrogen in the soil. Soil scientists think they have found a solution.
Source: Science Daily

The European Union embraced a new hardline agenda to defend its borders against illegal migration last night as Angela Merkel warned that the fate of the bloc depended on addressing the three-year crisis over migration. Europe’s growing crop of populist leaders claimed victory for their “Fortress Europe” agenda which saw the European Council summit in Brussels putting deterrence and the protection of EU borders at the forefront of its migration policy. “Europe has many challenges but migration could end up determining Europe’s destiny,” Mrs Merkel told the German parliament before the summit, with her own political future hanging in the balance following a rebellion against her softer migration policies by her Bavarian coalition partners. The draft summit conclusions showed the German leader’s long-standing calls for an inclusive approach to migration playing second fiddle to the need to secure Europe’s borders and process illegal migrants off-shore so they could be returned to their countries of origin. Sebastian Kurz, the conservative Austrian chancellor who is in coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, said the shift was a victory for those states who have argued that the EU’s soft approach is creating ‘pull factors’ for migration. Merkel’s migration tensions | Read more “It seems as if today we will manage a shift in migration policy,” he said, adding that being rescued in the Mediterranean “must not automatically become a ticket” to central Europe. “That’s important because we have asked for a systemic change for years. For years we have demanded reductions in the number of people coming to Europe illegally. I think that is possible today.” Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister who put up fences on Hungary’s border with Serbia in 2015 after Mrs Merkel threw open Germany’s border, said the change was a victory for the concerns of Europe’s voters. “The main issue is not migration, the issue is democracy in Europe … it is about what the people believe, what should be done,” he said before claiming the people wanted migrants to be sent back to where they came from. He added that the move heralded the start of a “new period when we try to reconstruct the European democracy.” Mr Orban’s claims of a victory for ‘democracy’ will send shudders through liberal Europe which believes that the Hungarian leader is using the consensus for a harder line over migration as a Trojan horse for a broader illiberal agenda. Donald Tusk, the European Council president, warned on the eve of the summit that failure to address the migration question risked handing ammunition to populists and those with “a tendency towards overt authoritarianism” – which was widely taken as a reference to the likes of Mr Orban. But Mr Tusk said that the EU’s measures – which include beefing up Europe’s border force to 10,000, forging return deals with African states and investigating setting up so-called hotspot camps in north Africa – were necessary to avoid something worse. “Some may think I am too tough in my proposals on migration. But trust me, if we don’t agree on them, then you will see some really tough proposals from some really tough guys,” he said. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said that the measures were not designed to put an the end to the idea of ‘European solutions’ to migration pressures, but to modernise them and enable them to work better. “We all face a simple choice: do we want national solutions or do we believe in European solutions and cooperation? For my part, I will defend European solutions, in cooperation, in the European Union and under Schengen,” he said Italy’s new populist government withheld judgement on the proposals, after a month in which it has refused permission for NGO migrant rescue ships to dock at its ports and demanded EU states share the burden of the 600,000 migrants that have arrived in the last two years. Guiseppe Conte, the Italian prime minister, welcomed the proposals and pledges to do more to help Italy, but made clear that his government – which has already catalysed the debate – would continue to push for real outcomes. “We hope these words will be translated into action,” he said. “Italy no longer has a need for words and statements, we need concrete acts.”

From the spatter analysis made famous in the TV show Dexter to the frequent DNA profiling of CSI and the real cases covered in the FBI Files, blood tests are ubiquitous in forensic science. Now, researchers report that a new blood test, which could be performed at a crime scene, could help determine the age of a suspect or victim within just an hour.
Source: Science Daily

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombians will choose either a business-friendly protégé of a powerful ex-president or a leftist former guerrilla as their new head of state on Sunday, with the future of a historic peace accord and the nation’s economic model hanging in the balance.

A Texas sheriff says he does not believe any of the victims of last week’s deadly shooting rampage at Santa Fe High School were caught in a cross fire and killed by police officers but said a final determination can’t be made until autopsies are completed.